Chapter 306: Compensation

Chapter 306: Chapter 306: Compensation

Zhu Huanghua was, after all, eighty years old. After just a few steps, she was panting for breath and flatly refused to walk any further.

"Help me back. I can’t walk anymore!"

"Grandma, it’s okay. I’ll carry you."

With that, Lu Cheng bent down, hoisted Zhu Huanghua onto his back, and continued to stroll down the street.

Only when he estimated everyone was about done eating did he carry Zhu Huanghua back to the restaurant.

The family had saved them some food.

Zhu Huanghua’s teeth weren’t good, so Lu Deyao had ordered a dish of steamed egg custard for her and ladled out a bowl of stewed meatballs with white radish.

Lu Cheng’s bowl was much more plentiful; it contained a little of almost every dish from the table.

He was starving. He sat down, picked up his chopsticks, and was about to dig in.

Jiang Moli touched the rim of the bowl. "The food is cold. Take it to the kitchen and have them heat it up."

Lu Cheng didn’t actually mind if the food was cold.

When he was on missions, he had eaten plenty of spoiled food just to fill his stomach, let alone cold leftovers.

But his wife’s concern filled him with an immense sense of happiness and contentment.

Jiang Moli took the bowl to the kitchen.

When she returned, in addition to the reheated dishes for Lu Cheng, she was also carrying a bowl of egg fried rice.

The golden, glistening egg fried rice was dotted with vibrant green scallions and served with freshly fetched pickles. It was fragrant and tempting.

An Hui was very gratified by her daughter-in-law’s thoughtfulness toward her son.

She praised her casually, "This egg fried rice looks pretty good."

Jiang Moli placed the rice and dishes in front of Lu Cheng and said with a grin, "Mom, if you like it, I’ll show you what I can do one of these days."

An Hui was even more surprised. "You made this egg fried rice?"

Lu Deyao was just as shocked. "Moli, you have this kind of skill?"

Jiang Moli replied, "Dad, you’re underestimating me, aren’t you? There’s a lot I can do."

Hearing that Jiang Moli had made the egg fried rice, the whole family was equally astonished.

After all, in their minds, Jiang Moli had always been lazy and spoiled. They never expected her to know how to cook.

Lu Cheng’s eyes lit up with joy.

’Oh my god, what a wonderful day! I’m actually getting to eat egg fried rice made by my wife!’

He buried his head in the bowl and took a huge bite. The rice was perfectly springy, the egg flavor was rich, and it was savory and delicious.

’It’s so good I could cry!’

Watching him eat, Lu Deyao couldn’t help but swallow. "Can you finish all that? Share a little with me."

"I can finish it. I don’t need your help."

Lu Cheng rejected him without a shred of mercy.

’This is the egg fried rice my wife made for me. I’m not sharing it with anyone else.’

’Not even my own dad.’

CLATTER!

The whole family looked toward the sound to see Zhu Huanghua, her old face pulled into a scowl, cursing furiously. "Who put so much salt in this? Are you trying to kill me?"

As she cursed, she threw her chopsticks, spoon, and other utensils onto the floor, which clattered and crashed loudly.

Lu Deyao quickly tried to placate her. "Mom, I’ll have the restaurant make you a new, less salty bowl. Don’t eat this one."

Zhu Huanghua was not appeased. She slammed her hand hard on the table. "You son of a bitch, you’ve had a few good days and already forgotten your own name, haven’t you? Huh? Look at all this leftover food on the table! Wasting food like this, aren’t you afraid of being struck by lightning?"

In reality, there wasn’t much food left on the table, just some sauces and leftover bits of ginger, scallion, and garlic.

But Zhu Huanghua was deliberately trying to pick a fight. She couldn’t stand to see people she disliked living the good life.

"Well said, Grandma! Why don’t you lead by example and eat all the leftovers on the table? Set a good precedent for us juniors."

Jiang Moli stood up, gathered all the cold leftovers from the table into a large basin, and placed it in front of Zhu Huanghua.

Zhu Huanghua swiped a hand and knocked the basin over, spilling its soupy contents all over the floor.

Jiang Moli’s shoes got dirty, but she paid it no mind and picked up the egg custard. "Grandma is getting old, so it’s normal for her hands to be a bit unsteady. Here, let me feed you."

Unsurprisingly, Zhu Huanghua knocked the egg custard to the floor as well.

Jiang Moli casually picked up an empty ceramic plate and handed it to Zhu Huanghua. "Grandma, smash this one. It’ll make a louder noise."

Zhu Huanghua shot her a vicious glare, took the plate, and hurled it to the ground.

The high-quality white porcelain plate shattered to pieces with a loud CRASH.

Jiang Moli kept handing them over, and Zhu Huanghua kept smashing them. The sound of CRASHING and SMASHING was incessant.

A server couldn’t watch any longer and came over to intervene. "Comrade, this is a public restaurant, not your own home! This isn’t a place for you to throw a tantrum! Also, you’ll have to pay for all the tableware you’ve damaged!"

Lu Deyao put his hands together, apologizing to the server and the other patrons. "I’m so sorry, so sorry. My mother is getting on in years, I apologize for disturbing everyone..."

Jiang Moli cut him off. "Dad, why are you explaining so much? My grandma has plenty of money. Forget smashing a few crummy plates—she could afford to smash every plate in this restaurant! Right, Grandma? Did you have fun? If not, we can keep going. We’ve got plenty of money, so there’s nothing to be afraid of."

Zhu Huanghua’s eyes nearly popped out of her head.

’I have to pay for the plates I broke? How much is that going to cost?’

The other patrons and the staff were all disgusted and angered by Jiang Moli’s arrogant speech.

’So what if you’re rich? Sooner or later, you’ll get your comeuppance!’

『Disdain Value +25. 250,000 Yuan credited to your account.』

In contrast to the anger of the patrons and staff, the Lu Family looked completely used to it.

’That’s right,’ they thought. ’This is the Third Brother’s wife we’re all familiar with.’

Once she knew she had to pay for the broken items, Zhu Huanghua stopped making a scene. She even ate every last one of the meatballs she had declared too salty.

When the bill was settled, the total came to 50 yuan.

The meal was 38 yuan, and the compensation for the broken cups, plates, and bowls was 12 yuan.

Jiang Moli had the restaurant write up a receipt, then turned to show it to Zhu Huanghua. "Grandma, take a good look. I’m putting this 12 yuan on your pension tab. It’ll be withdrawn from your savings account at the end of the month."

Zhu Huanghua was used to being frugal, the kind of person who would stretch a single penny.

Hearing that she had to pay 12 yuan, she trembled with rage, her eyes like daggers, wishing she could stab holes in Jiang Moli.

She had only thrown a spoon and chopsticks at first. It was all this damn spendthrift’s fault for making her lose her head with anger, causing her to smash so many things and lose so much money!

’My heart aches.’

’My money!’

...

The Lu Family had a spare room that had always been used for storing junk.

Knowing Zhu Huanghua was coming, Ma Hongmei had cleared out the room in advance, made the bed, and added a table, chairs, and a wardrobe.

Worried that it would be inconvenient for Zhu Huanghua to get up during the night, Ma Hongmei had even prepared a commode chair and a chamber pot. It was all quite thoughtful and considerate.

By the time they got Zhu Huanghua settled and lying down, it was already 11 p.m. Everyone washed up and went to their own rooms to rest.

"My money! You damn, wasteful sons of bitches..."

"Old man, open your eyes and look! Your unfilial children and grandchildren are bullying a poor old woman like me..."

The cursing from Zhu Huanghua’s room continued all the way to midnight. She was clearly still furious about the 12 yuan she’d had to pay.

Lu Deyao, with a robe thrown over his shoulders, sat on the edge of her bed, trying to coax her. "Mom, I’ll cover the 12 yuan. It won’t come out of your money. Please just go to sleep, okay?"

"Aiyah! You deadbeat! All you know is how to piss me off! I should have drowned you in a chamber pot when you were born..."

The more Lu Deyao tried to soothe her, the more worked up Zhu Huanghua became.

She continued to curse and swear while pounding the edge of the bed with her fists, making a loud THUMPING sound.

With all this commotion, not only could the family not sleep, but even the neighbors would be disturbed.

In their room, Lu Cheng turned his head and said apologetically to Jiang Moli beside him, "Just put up with it for three months. It’ll be quiet again once Grandma leaves."

’Three months? I can’t even stand three days of this.’

Jiang Moli sat up and started getting dressed.

Lu Cheng sat up in bed with her. "What are you doing?"